This is fine.
It’s Friday, and we’re celebrating March 1st with the release of the brand new Dear Boy EP. What better way to celebrate than to get to know the project before our big SXSW festival (it’s only two weeks away?). Read on and get to know the group before they head our way, and then go listen to their new EP.
This is a special song, written at one point for a special moment, celebrating and sharing the stories of two co-survivors and what it means to live as a sick woman. The two voices here are Astrid Swan and Stina Koistinen, both whom have battled diseases and bring you music to enlighten us about their experiences. This number deals with the powerful emotions of diagnosis, but in telling that story, the depth is established by the song’s arrangement; it’s sparse and emotional, aided by the string work of Owen Pallet and light electronics/piano bubbling from the depths of the song. The Swan/Koistinen EP will be shared with the world this coming May via Soliti.
How does one write about a friend without feeling like you’re blowing smoke up their ass? I loved working Santiago during his tenure with Growl, but this Daphne Tunes stuff he’s been working on is quite possibly some of the best pop music coming out of the city of Austin. I think the delicate approach he and his band have taken to these recordings creates such a refined sound that it’s hard not to marvel at what’s coming through your speakers. Santi’s voice comes across stronger than ever, and I love the way the guitars duel with one another as he hangs his vocal notes at the end of each stanza, letting them drift through your living space. Such a special track, and just one of a handful he’ll be playing at our ATH vs SOTO SXSW show on March 10 at Hotel Vegas!
I know all the indiepop fans out there are still enjoying that Elva track from yesterday, but why not turn my attention to Sunshower, a group I know next to nothing about. What I do know is that they just released two delightful pop numbers that can’t be ignored. They’re both full of jangling guitar lines, snappy drumming and the warm combination of melodic vocals; admittedly, the second track “Almaty” employs more of a dreamy pop strategy. Both of these tunes will appear on the band’s forthcoming album, Blue Dolphin, which is being released by Japan’s Fastcut Records at sometime in the future.
It looks as if the Smallgoods were not calling it quits, they were merely on a hiatus, and now, seven years later, that has come to an end; the band just announced their return and a new album to come this June. It’s been about a dozen years since their last proper release, and they’re still writing these soaring pop tracks that seemingly survive on melody alone. Don’t get me wrong, the sonic texture is bright and meaningful, but the slight tonal changes that rise and fall are pure bliss; it’s like the best indiepop and power-pop mash-up you never knew you needed…one might even call it the twee Nada Surf (and I mean that respectfully). Lost in the Woods will be released in June via Lost and Lonesome.
I’ve really enjoyed the early listens from We Show Up on Radar; they’ve been vibrant and clever, but this new track gives us a slightly different viewpoint of the artist. This track is all about the storytelling, all about the map being made in hopes that Erin will come home. The arrangements behind the voice, from the horns to the gently strummed guitars adds this forlorn emotional vibe…that is until the synth lines in the final thirty seconds, giving us a bit of upbeat promise as the song fades to black. Zanzibar Whip Coral, the album on which this song appears, drops on March 22nd via Fika Recordings.
